Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/the-rights-and-longings-of-directors/5021234/
“I think when we talk about the rights of children, the rights of teachers fall under the same broad stroke, and by that same broad stroke, those same rights need to be conveyed to directors. They are, after all, basic human rights. To grow. To learn. To be challenged. To feel safe in failure.”�" Michael Koetje
Directors of early childhood programs all too often feel like failures. But perhaps it is we who have failed them. Our field offers inadequate recognition and support for the expectations of the administrator’s job. Is it their fault that directors can’t relieve the stress of working with a limited budget, the limits of a 24-hour day, and the tug of longing to see a slice of their dream come true? We should say to them, “You are remarkable. You have an impossible job and we recognize the huge effort you make. Thank you. For a moment, take off your cape and put up your feet. You deserve so much more.”
Oh, the stories directors could tell us. Most of them with common themes known all too well by those who do this taken-for-granted job and those who observe it: stories of being squeezed from the outside ...